Mideast peace talks at dead endDear Editor: I rarely agree with Ted Rudow III (Letters, May 19) but he is absolutely correct that the Middle East peace talks are at a dead end. The Arab contingent has abandoned all pretexts that they are ready to negotiate in good faith. In the past, their leader Yasser Arafat rejected compromises offered by Israel that would have established a Palestinian state in Gaza and about 95 percent of the West Bank, with additional land taken from Israel.Now the leadership under Abbas won't even go through the motions and has brought the terrorist group Hamas into its coalition. Read the Hamas charter and tell me if this is a partner for peace. President Obama has been wasting his time on this issue. He has been making demands on Israel but applying no pressure to Abbas, who has now decided to go in the opposite direction of negotiations and peaceful resolution.Gil Stein,Aptos